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I. Prologue

As you may know, I've been planning to take Corbin bike-camping this summer. We'd practiced sleeping in the tent, without success. We tried again last week, and again were unsuccessful. Continually with this mentality that we are "playing" sleep-in-the-tent. So I was a little worried. But I made a reservation! And reservations at state parks are annoying! So we were going!

II. Also

We are bike travelers. We camp by bike. We tour by bike. It's something we like to do. Erin and I have done it, and I've done it without the family.

People have told me, when Corbin was born, and with Eliza, that "your life's gonna change." And that's true. My life has changed (obviously). But not in the way "those people" think. I will not stop doing the things I like to do. I refuse to do that. But I will change so that I can do those things in a new way, a whole-fam-damly way. So life changes, yes. But the main way it changes is that now I load up my bike with stuff, and then hook a trailer to the back.

III. Day One: Home to Larrabee State Park

Miles: 14.04 (14.04 total) Riding time: 1:25:49
Trains: 5

We left home after Corbin's nap, which he miraculously took to early and well. The night before he had been a wreck because he wanted to go camping "Right now! Ride bike right now!" In the morning we had to tell him the campground was closed for us until after nap to get him to shut up about it stop fussing about it.

My plan was to ride to Fairhaven mostly by road, and then take the Interurban Trail the rest of the way to Larrabee. This was partially successful.

The trail from Fairhaven to Arroyo Park was excellent. Very flat, very easy. I passed a bike commuter. I...er...wasn't keeping track of who passed me. Anyway, at Arroyo Park the trail became suddenly treacherous. Impassable by kid-trailer. So onto the road I go.

This was kind of annoying, since the main reason to take the trail was to avoid a narrow, curvy, uphill section of Chuckanut Drive. And this was exactly what I had to go up, now that I was back on the road. Ah well. Traffic wasn't too bad. And I did have two flags.

After surviving the least pleasant part of Chuckanut Dr., I rejoined the Interurban. Very nice. Until.

Sigh. Such good intentions they had. A fresh layer of gravel covered the trail. Perfect for walkies. But for me, with my touring tires, it was a bit mushy and pretty slow going. First chance I had, I abandoned the trail for good.

And then we arrived. Corbin hadn't fussed at all the entire ride. I had fussed more, actually.

We had a snack of breadsticks as we set up the tent, and then headed down to the beach to put our feet in.

Feet in

Rocks

Corbin on rocks

Snack on the way back to the campsite

Contemplating a slug's life

When we got back to the campsite, Corbin's friend Alden and his dad Eric had arrived. Eric just finished climbing some really tall mountain around here, and was a little tired for biking and/or camping, but they'll make it next time. It was still fun that they got to come have dinner with us!

They had the fire going when we got there, so we got straight down to what boys do. Poking sticks at fire. Alden and Corbin were both well behaved and kept a safe distance, for the most part.

Cooking dinner

At some point Corbin lost his shirt. And by "lost" I mean refused to keep it on.

"Seriously! I have no idea how all this dirt got on me! It was on the ground, and now it's on me! It's a mystery!"

Corbin got to have s'mores for the first time. He found them delicious and sticky. And his first line after finishing? "I want some more." I didn't give him any more because he didn't say it right. OK. I gave him half of one, and I ate the other half as a language-precision-penalty.

Alden and Eric left around 9(?). We packed some things up and headed down to the bathroom for diaper changes and teeth brushing and what-have-you.

Secret weapon for tent success: Lightstick

We got in the tent about 9:45. No sense going to bed at a reasonable hour. We read some books and sang some songs. We played with the lightstick, which I eventually had to put away. Corbin has only slept with us a couple of times, mostly with Erin on trips. Never in a tent. I wasn't sure exactly how (if?) it would work. He decided he didn't want his sleeping bag, for one. He used his blanket. And then he proceeded to lay on my arm, on my chest, on my neck. To climb over me to the other side. It finally ended up something like this:

Tent wall--Corbin--Me--Corbin's pad--Corbin's sleeping bag--Tent wall

I estimate it was between 10:30 and 11:00 when he/we fell asleep. He never asked to go home or sleep in his bed. He said several times, unprompted, that he was "Having fun." So, I don't know, dodged a bullet?

Day Two: Larrabee State Park to Home

Miles: 12.21 (26.25 total) Riding time: 1:19:39
Trains: 2 (but also, foghorn!)

I don't really like sleeping in tents. Sleeping bags and pads don't really agree with me. But I survived.

I think I woke up at about 6. Corbin was covered in my sleeping bag, and I was spread across what part of my pad he gave me and his pad. I managed to nick some of my sleeping bag, too.

At about 6:30 Corbin woke up, said "Mommy go?"

"She's at home," I said. His response was to fall back to sleep.

At about 7:30 he woke up for good, and his first words were "Ready go home now." They were also his second four, his third four, and maybe his fourth four. Clearly, it was time to get moving.

We had instant oatmeal and bananas for breakfast. I had hot cocoa. It was chillier than I expected. Corbin insisted on sitting on my lap during breakfast. Also, triangular cups are awkward for drinking.

Once we were up and about and playing with a dead lightstick, spirits were a little better. To make sure I kept things moving along, Corbin decided to wear his helmet.

The ride back was uneventful. I skipped the Interurban altogether. Chuckanut was not too busy, and I took the lane down the curvy narrow part and made the Volvo behind me wait until we got to the bottom.

As we approached town I ran through several potential routes, all containing more hills than I preferred. I ended up zig-zagging through the cemetery to avoid steep uphill gravel trails. It worked out, but was a little haphazard. I also had to avoid playgrounds, since Corbin was informing me of his interest in getting out and playing at a playground, and I had no intention of stopping or increasing the intensity of his pleas.

We made it.

IV. Epilogue

My knees hurt a bit, despite not much riding, but it doesn't really seem like things went that much slower pulling a twenty pound trailer and a thirty pound boy. Slow patches were more because of the trail than the load.

Corbin went to sleep early for his nap. I will go to sleep early tonight.

Next year, Birch Bay. Who's coming?